''Air à boire'' is a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

term which was used between the mid-17th and mid-18th centuries for a "

drinking song A drinking song is a song sung while drinking Alcoholic beverage, alcohol. Most drinking songs are Folk music, folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music. ...

". These were generally

strophic Strophic form – also called verse-repeating form, chorus form, AAA song form, or one-part song form – is a song structure in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music. Contrasting song forms include through-composed, w ...

, syllabic

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

s to light texts. Its predecessor was ''

chanson pour boire ''Chanson pour boire'' and ''chanson à boire'' are terms for French drinking songs, frequently coupled with ''chanson pour danser'' (or "song for dancing"). It was used in from about 1627–1670. It is different from the ''air à boire'' primaril ...

'', the difference being mainly that ''chansons pour boire'' were for one voice with

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

accompaniment, whereas ''airs à boire'' are generally for more than one voice.Baron ''Airs à boire'' are generally contrasted with ''airs sérieux'', which typically had texts on more serious matters, such as "love,

pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

scenes, and political

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

."Baron, Air à boire Most ''airs à boire'' occur in publications from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and are for one to three voices and lute accompaniment. In the 1690s ''airs à boire'' were so popular that new collections containing them were published every three months in Paris. In the period when the term was used, over 250 collections of songs with the title ''Airs sérieux et à boire'' were published. Composers who were prolific in the genre were

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...

(38 compositions),

André Campra André Campra (; baptized 4 December 1660 – 29 June 1744) was a French composer and conductor of the Baroque era. The leading French opera composer in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, Campra wrote several '' tra ...

François Couperin François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented ...

, Jean-Fery Rebel,

Henry Desmarest Henri Desmarets (February 1661 – 7 September 1741) was a French composer of the Baroque music, Baroque period primarily known for his stage works, although he also composed sacred music as well as secular cantatas, songs and instrumenta ...

Jean-Baptiste Drouart de Bousset Jean-Baptiste Drouard de Bousset (1662 - 3 October 1725) was a French baroque composer. He was born in Asnières, of minor nobility, and became ''maître de musique'' of the chapelle of the Louvre. He died in Paris Paris () is the Capit ...

Michel Lambert Michel Lambert (1610 – 29 June 1696) was a French singing master, theorbist and composer. Career Lambert was born at Champigny-sur-Veude, France. He received his musical education as an altar boy at the Chapel of Gaston d'Orléans, a brother of k ...

, Etienne Moulinier,

Sébastien Le Camus Sébastien Le Camus (ca. 1610-1677) was a French composer. He entered into the service of Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King ...

and

Sébastien de Brossard Sébastien de Brossard, pronounced e.bɑs.tjẽ də brɔ.saːr (12 September 1655 – 10 August 1730) was a French music theorist, composer and collector. Life Brossard was born in Dompierre, Orne. After studying philosophy and theology a ...

References

*John H. Baron. "Air à boire", ''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed December 2, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access). *John H. Baron. "Chanson pour boire", ''

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed December 2, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Air A Boire 17th-century music genres 18th-century music genres Song forms French music history Baroque music